Strike at Lear plant in Ajax

Bargaining continues between company and union

Lear Strike

Ron Pietroniro / Metroland

AJAX -- Workers at Lear Corporation in Ajax, which builds seats for
Chrysler, have been on strike since midnight on May 1. Steve Batchelor,
president of Unifor Local 1090, says the union is still bargaining with the
company to reach an agreement. May 2, 2014.

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Steve Batchelor, president of Unifor Local 1090, says the union is continuing to bargain with the company and hopes to reach an agreement by this weekend.

“We have returned to the bargaining table and we are working towards trying to find a solution that we can present to our membership on Sunday,” said Mr. Batchelor.

Unifor Local 1090, formerly Canadian Auto Worker’s Union, has served the Ajax community industries for 51 years. The union currently represents about 330 workers at the Ajax plant.

The strike began at midnight on May 1. Mr. Batchelor wouldn’t comment on specific details of the negotiations.

“I don’t want to jeopardize bargaining but I can say that the issue is trying to reach a fair compensation package for the workers in the job they do,” he said. “They build seats to supply the Chrysler plant in Brampton.”

The meeting between the union and workers is scheduled to take place at noon on Sunday, May 4.

(1) Comment

By Mike|MAY 06, 2014 03:55 AM

I think Lear needs to get back to the table and negotiate a fair wage. This is costing Chrysler (Lear’s main customer) a lot of money by having to shut down without seats for their cars. Which will cost Lear dearly if Chrysler needs to find another supplier just because Lear won’t negotiate a fair wage.
Chrysler is paying Lear more than enough for these seats, why is Lear not paying it’s employees enough to the point that they feel they have to strike?
This is a bad business strategy by Lear!
Pay your employees and get back to work!
Mike H (Chrysler Employee)